Earlier this week Ookla teased their revised and updated Speedtest.net app for Android, and now it's live in the Play Store for anyone to download. The go-to network test for end users and reviewers alike has been completely redesigned, with a new interface, new options, and the ability to remove the advertising with a $.99 in-app purchase. That's a nice perk for frequent users.

The old interface wasn't exactly awful, but it had been going for several years without any sort of refresh.

When it comes to testing your network speed, Ookla's Speedtest app is the unmatched champion. But it hasn't seen a substantial update in a very long time, and it doesn't even scale properly on some devices (*cough* Nexus 4 *cough*). Looks like the company has been working on a new version of the app for a while now, which it just teased on Twitter.

As you can see, it keeps the same familiar gauge for testing, as well as the same overall layout, but it looks substantially more appealing.

As we already know, Sprint is going to roll out its next generation 4G LTE network in four U.S. cities somewhere around mid-2012, and it would only make sense that they already have some of the towers undergoing testing. The first of such alleged tests surfaced online today:

While I can't promise you it's 100% legitimate, here's my analysis:

The device used is more than likely a dedicated LTE hotspot and not a handset (like the LTE Galaxy Nexus).

When it comes to testing bandwidth throughput of your Android device, the Speedtest.net app is considered a de facto standard - it's functional, the UI is gorgeous, and there is a good chance they have a server pretty close to your location. I've tried all the speed testing programs in the Market, and always kept coming back to this one. For a long time the app has remained unchanged on the Market, lagging behind its iOS counterpart and its shiny new user interface.